Printing mechanisms for printing on pages of a book



R. E. BALDWIN 3,416,446

PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTING 0N PAGES OF A BOOK Dec. 17, 1958 11 Shets-Sheec 1 Filed March 8, 1968 Inventor I I Rid'lard E. BALDWIN By 7208* and 7108*.

A Manley! Dec. 17,1968 R. E. BALDWIN 3,416,445

PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTING ON PAGES OF A BOOK Filed March 8, ,1968 11 Sheets-Sheet 2 I nvenlor 2.2mm! E. eAwuw B flofle and wi e Aliorneys Dec. 17, 1968 R. E. BALDWIN 3,416,446

PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTING 0N PAGES CPA BOOK Filed March e. 1968 11 Sheets-Sheet 3 a $9 v g R a Q N E fw N 05 Invgiloi- I Richard EI BALDWIN At tome'yg Dec. 17, 1968 R, BALDWIN 4 3,416,446

PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTING 0N PAGES OF A BOOK Filed Mafch a, 1968 .11 sheets-shee 4 I npcnlor Rkhav BALDHIN Altar-hey! I RJE. BALDWIN 3,416,446

' v PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTINGON PAGES'OF A-BOOK Filed March s, 19 8 7 1 1 sheets-sheet 5 ll/ Invenlor Richan'al E. BALDWIN B, m ma rm Attorneys Dec. 17, 1968 RE. BALDWIN PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTING 0N PAGES OF A BOOK 11 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed March 8. 1968 I "PG-(I10! Eidyard E. Ebduin Attorneys Dec. 17, 1968 R. E. BALDWIN PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTING ON PAGES OF A BOOK Filed Mardh a; 1968 ll Sheets-Sheet 7 I rwenlor Rkhard E.

' BA-Lowm 85 By mm m! noe A- orne ya Dec. 17,1968 'R. E. BALDWIN 3,416,446

PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTING ON PAGES OF A BOOK Filed March 8. 1968 v 11 heets-Sheet 8 I //y /50 /47 I75 3 I w I A Inventor I flu g'mwwm 54 By mu: and 710th florneys' Dec. 17, 1968 R. E. BALDWIN 3,415,446

PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR'PRINTING ON. PAGES OF A BOOK 11 Sheets-She et 9 Filed March 8, 1968 mt MM m3 m9 rm" m m A ttorney:

1x41119611 REBALDWW 3,416,446

PRINTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTING ON PAGES OF A BOOK 1 Filed March a. 1968 v y I 11 heet -sheet 10 ficharu E. BALDWIN A llomeys Dec. 17, 1968 R. E.

BALDWIN PRI NTING MECHANISMS FOR PRINTING 0N PAGES OF A BOOK- Filed March a, 1968 11 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 imi!" I B'chard E @ALDWIN By M it M 7748/:

.. Attorney:

United States Patent 9 10 10 Claims. (Cl. 101287) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention is concerned with a printing mechanism in which pages of a book, such as pages of a cheque book are successively printed. The book is mounted in the mechanism and has each page first raised and thereafter gripped by fingers attached to an intermit- 0 tently rotatable member which carry the pages individually to a printing station at which the pages are printed. The mechanism is such that the pages are held stationary at the printing station during printing, and the printing unit is pivotable from a position outside the path of the 25 pages to a position in which a print is effected on the page by the printing unit.

Cross-references to related application 30 The present invention relates to printing mechanism for printing on successive pages of books and is a continuation-in-part of my patent application Ser. No. 552,757, filed May 25, 1966, now abandoned.

Background of the invention The books to be printed may be cheque books. When a cheque books is issued by a bank to a customer, it is desirable for each cheque in the cheque book to be printed with data identifying the customer, for example, by a code number which can be sensed by optical or electromagnetic sensing means for facilitating accounting procedures. Since most banks, for example in Europe, have numerous branches at which cheque books are issued to customers, it is desirable for such code printing to be effected at the branch at which a particular cheque book is issued.

Summary 0 the invention It is an object of the invention to provide a mechanism for effecting an additional print on pages of a book which pages otherwise are already provided with printed matter.

The present invention consists in a printing mechanism comprising means for successively turning pages of a book so as to bring a page from an initial position into a 55 printing position and from the printing position into a final position, and means for effecting a print on said page when in the printing position.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention when read with reference to the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example.

Brief description of the drawings ice FIG. 3 shows a view, taken in elevation, of a gripping device of the printing mechanism shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view corresponding to FIG. 3 of the gripping device, and shows the gripping device in three dilferent positions indicated respectively in full lines, dash-dotted lines and dashed lines;

FIG. 5 shows a cam-controlled lever mechanism for actuating the gripping device of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 6 shows a side view of a support platform and clamping device which form parts of the mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows a view similar to FIG. 6, but with parts in a different position;

FIG. 8 shows a view similar to FIGS. 6 and 7, but with the parts in yet another position;

FIG. 9 shows a printing unit of the mechanism and its actuating linkage;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the printing unit and the linkage of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 shows a counter-balance mechanism for pivoting a front plate of the mechanism;

FIG. 12 shows a clamping arrangement; and

FIG. 13 shows a view, taken in perspective, of a book alignment device.

Description of the preferred embodiment The printing mechanism shown in FIG. 1 has a rotor 1 carrying six gripping devices. Each of these gripping decise comprises a pair of fingers 2 and 3 and, when the mechanism is in operation, grips one page of a cheque book 5.

The rotor 1 is carried on a shaft 6 journalled in an upright frame member 7, the shaft being fixed at one end to the rotor 1 and at its other end to a Geneva wheel 9.

As shown in FIG. 2, the Geneva wheel is provided with six non-radial slots 10. Drive is transmitted to the Geneva wheel from an electric motor 11 having a shaft 12 which carries a gear wheel 14 which meshes with a gear wheel 15 secured to a lay shaft 20. A gear wheel .18

secured to the lay shaft meshes with a gear wheel 19 secured to a cam shaft 16 on which a crank 22 is fixed. The crank 22 is connected by a pivot pin 23 to one end of a drive lever 24 which is connected by a pivot pin 26 to a lever 27 pivotally secured to the upright frame member 7. On energization of the electric motor 11, drive is transmitted through the gears 14, 15, 18 and 19 to the cam shaft 16, so that the crank 22 rotates. Movement is thus imparted to the drive lever 24 to cause a pin 28 carried by the drive lever 24 to engage successively in the slots 10 of the Geneva wheel 9 to cause intermittent rotation of the latter.

The nonradial disposition of the slots 10 in the Geneva wheel 9 and the arrangement of the levers 24 and 27 is such that during each of the intermittent movements of the Geneva wheel 9, the rate of decelration of the Geneva wheel 9 during the final portion of each movement is less than the rate of acceleration of this wheel during the initial portion of the movement. The purpose of this is to reduce vibration.

A locking device is provided for preventing rotation of the Geneva wheel 9 on disengagement of the pin 28 from the Geneva wheel. This locking device comprises a pin 30 which is arranged to rest successively against the mouth of each slot 10. The pin 30 is carried on a plate 31 which is pivotally secured by a pivot screw 32 to the frame member 7. A lever 33 is fixed at one of its ends by a pair of screws 35 to the plate 31 and is engaged at its other end by a tension spring 36 which is anchored to a pin 37 secured to the frame member 7. The action of the spring 36 tends to pivot the plate 3.1 in an anticlockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2, about the pivot screw 32, to

bring the pin 30 against the periphery of the Geneva wheel 9. During the movement of the Geneva wheel 9, the pin 28 on the drive lever 24 presses upwardly against the under side of the lever 33 and thus causes the plate 31 to pivot in a clockwise direction about the pivot screw 32 and to carry the pin 30 out of contact with the Geneva wheel 9.

By providing the Geneva wheel mechanism with the above described locking device, the accuracy required in the manufacture of the various parts of the Geneva mechanism is considerably reduced, since after each movement of the Geneva wheel 9 the latter is located accurately in its correct position by the spring-biased locking pin 30.

The gripping devices for gripping the pages of the cheque book will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 4 and 5:

The rotor 1 has six arms 39, each of which carries one of the gripping devices comprising the fingers 2 and 3 As shown in FIG. 3, which illustrates one of the gripping devices, the finger 2 is pivotally secured to its associated finger 3 by means of a spindle 40 extending through a lug 41 on the finger 3 and a lug 42 on the finger 2. The spindle 40 extends through a coil spring 44 disposed between the lugs 42. The coil spring 44 has one end 45 extending through a hole in an extension 46 of the finger 3 and its other end 47 engages over the finger 2 for urging the finger 2 towards the finger 3.

The extension 46 of the finger 3 is pivotally connected by pivot pins 49 and 50 (see FIGS. 3 and 4 respectively) to the ends of levers 51 and 52, the opposite ends of which are pivotally connected by pivot pins 54 and 53 respectively to the corresponding arm of the rotor 1.

A portion of the lever 51 is bent to form a lug 56 which, when the lever 51 is in the position shown in FIG. 3 abuts against a stop 57 formed on the arm 39 under the action of a spring 58 which is anchored by pins 60 and 6 1 to the lever 51 and the arm 39 respectively.

A member 62 pivotally secured to the finger extension 46 by a pivot pin 64 has a projecting portion 65 which extends between the fingers 2 and 3 and, when in the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, allows the spring 44 to turn the finger 2 against the finger 3. On pivoting the member 62 in an anticlockwise direction, when viewed as shown in FIG. 3, around the pivot pin 64, the projecting portion 65 slides along an inclined surface (shown in FIG. 1) on the finger 2 and lifts the finger 2 from the finger 3 to allow the fingers 2 and 3 to pass along opposite sides of a page of the cheque book 5.

FIG. 4 illustrates the pivoting of the levers 51 and 52 about the pivot pins 54 and 53, respectively, to move the fingers 2 and 3 away from the cheque book 5. Starting from an initial position, in which the levers 51 and 52, the finger 3 and the pivotal member 62 are shown in full lines, the finger 2 being omitted for simplicity, the levers 51 and 52 are pivoted in an anticlockwise direction about the pivot pins 54 and 53, respectively, by a lug 66, which strikes the lug 56. The levers move into the position illustrated in dash-dotted lines and indicated by reference numerals 51' and 52'. During such pivoting an abutment 68 on the extension 46 of the finger 3 turns the pivotal member 62 in a clockwise direction relative to the extension 46 about its pivot pin 64, causing the projecting portion 65 of the pivotal member 62 to slide between the fingers 2 and 3 and to open them. As the pivoting movement continues, the opening of the fingers 2 and 3 is assisted by a toggle action of the spring 58.

The lug 66 is provided on an arm of a two-armed lever 69, which is shown in FIG. 5, the other arm of this lever being provided with a lug 70 for causing the lever arms to pivot in the direction opposite to that described above, i.e., in the direction towards the cheque book. During this pivoting movement, the projecting portion 65 of the pivotal member 62 strikes against a stop 72 as shown in FIG. 4, the stop 72 being secured to the frame member 7 as shown in FIG. 1. When the projecting portion strikes the stop 72, the pivotal member 62 is caused to pivot in an anticlockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 4 about the pin 64. Since this pivoting occurs instantaneously during the final pivoting movement of the gripping device towards the cheque book, the fingers 2 and 3 close together with a snap action under the force of the spring 44.

For causing the gripping devices to pivot relative to the rotor 1 and towards and away from the cheque book 5 at the correct instant during each cycle of operation of the mechanism, the lever 69 is controlled by a cam and lever arrangement illustrated in FIG. 5.

The cam shaft 16 carries a cam 73 which cooperates with a cam follower roller 74 carried by a lever 75 which is freely pivotal about a shaft 76. A tension spring 78 is secured at opposite ends to the lever 75 and the twoarmed lever 69, which is pivotal about a pivot screw 79 carried by a bracket 80'. The bracket 80 is secured by screws 82 to an upright 86 which is shown in FIGS. 6- and 7. Two links 83 and 84 (FIG. 5), which are rigidly connected together are secured by pivot screw 85 and pivot pin 87 to the two-armed lever 69 and the pivotal lever 75, respectively. The tension spring 78 urges the two-armed lever 69 in an anticlockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 5, about the pivot screw 79 and thereby urges the cam follower roller 74 against the periphery of the cam 73.

On rotation of the cam shaft 16, the two-armed lever 69 is caused to pivot in a clockwise direction about the pivot screw 79 when the cam follower roller 74 passes over a raised portion 88 of cam 73. This clockwise pivoting causes the lug '70 to strike against the lug 56 of one of the gripping devices to pivot said gripping device towards the cheque book 5.

For supporting the cheque book 5, a sprung support platform 90 is provided (see FIGS. 6 and 7) which is carried by two brackets 91 and 92 which are pivotally secured to the platform 90 at opposite ends thereof and to the upright 86. The platform 90 is urged away from the upright 86 towards an abutment rail 93 by a spring 98.

Beneath the platform 90, two parallel curved arms (see also FIG. 1) are each fixed at one end to the shaft 76. A pad arrangement is carried on the other ends of the arms 100. This pad arrangement comprises a support plate 101 fixed to the arms 100 and a movable plate 102 secured by a screw 103 to the support plate 101, the movable plate 102 being capable of limited movement relative to the support plate 101 and being urged away from the support plate 101 by a spring 105. A rubber pad 106 is secured to the movable plate 102.

On turning of the shaft 76, the arms I00 pivot therewith from the position shown in FIG. 6 to that shown in FIG. 7 to clamp the cheque book 5 between the rubber pad 106 and the platform 90.

A pivotal U-shaped member having two parallel arms 108, of which only one can be seen in the drawings, is carried by its arms 108 on the shaft 76 and is rotatable about the shaft 76. A cam follower lever 110 is fixed to one of the arms 108 and a tension spring 111 is secured at one end to the cam follower lever 110 and at the opposite end to a bracket 112 secured to one of the arms 100.

When the arms 100 are in the position shown in FIG. 6, the spring 111 urges the arms 108 into contact with a further rod 114 extending between the two arms 100. A pivot rod 115 (FIG. 7) which is pivotally supported at its ends in the two arms 108 carries a wiper bracket 116 which when the arms 100 are in the position shown in FIG. 6, is supported by means of a leaf spring 118 on the rod 112, the leaf spring 118 being secured with the wiper bracket 116 to the pivot rod 115. A rubber wiper pad 119 is attached to the free end of the wiper bracket 116.

In FIG. 7 the cheque book 5 is shown on the support platform 90, the upper end of the cheque book 5 being clamped by a clamping device 120 provided on the top of the upright 86, a rubber pad 121 being secured by adhesive to the platform 90 for preventing sliding of the underneath surface of cheque book 5 along the platform 90.

In FIG. 7, the shaft 76 has been pivoted to clamp the pad 106 against the uppermost page of the cheque book 5 with sufiicient pressure to pivot the platform 90 slightly so that the book 5 is not clamped between the platform 90 and the abutment 93. During pivoting of the shaft 76, a cam follower roller 123 on the follower lever is brought against a cam 124 on the cam shaft 16, the cam 124 being shaped to pivot follower lever 110 and therewith the arms 108 about the shaft 76 so that the rubber wiper pad 119 is first pressed against the uppermost page of the cheque book 5. Subsequently, by pivoting of the pivot rod 115 against the action of the leaf spring 118, the rubber pad 119 is caused to move upwardly along the cheque book, as shown in FIG. 8. During such upward movement, the wiper pad 119 carries with it a portion of the uppermost page of the cheque book 5 to form a bulge 5 in this page between the pad 119 and the pad 106, which allows fingers 2 and 3 to pass to opposite sides of this uppermost page.

As shown in FIG. 7, the cam shaft 16 carries a cam 129 cooperating with a cam follower roller 130 carried on a lever 131 which is pivotal about a pivot pin 132. The lever 131 is urged in an anticlockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 7, about the pivot pin 132 by a tension spring 134 anchored to the upright 86. A link 135 is pivotally connected to the lever 131 and to a lever 136 which is rigidly secured to the shaft 76.

On rotation of the cam shaft 16, the cam 129 causes pivoting of the lever 131 against the atcion of the tension spring 134; the movement of the lever 131 is transmitted through the link 135 and the lever 136 to the shaft 76.

A front plate 139, which is shown in FIGS. 9 and is pivotably mounted on a front frame member 140. A printing unit 141 is mounted on the front plate 139. The printing unit 141 is actuated by an actuating mechanism in timed relation with the rotation of the cam shaft 16. For this purpose, the actuating mechanism comprises a cam 142, (FIG. 9) carried on the cam shaft 16 and 00- operating with a cam follower roller 143 carried by a cam follower lever 144 which is pivotal about a pivot pin 145 and has rigidly attached thereto a projection 147.

The projection 147 bears against the end of a reciprocatable spindle 148, which extends through bearings 149 (see FIG. 9) which support brackets 150 carrying the front plate 139, so that the latter is pivotal about the reciprocatable spindle 148.

A collar 152 fixed to the reciprocatable spindle 148 is engaged by a nose 153 provided on an arm of a fourarmed lever 154 which is pivotally secured to the front plate 139 by a pivot screw 156. A tension spring 157 is secured at one of its ends to another arm of the lever 154 and at its opposite end to the front plate 139, and the reciprocatable spindle 148 is urged against the projection 147 by the action of the spring 157 through the fourtarmed lever 154, the nose 153 and the collar 152.

A pair of links 158 are pivotally connected at one end to the four-armed lever 154 and, near the other end, are provided with an abutment 160 for retaining one end of a compression spring 161. The opposite end of the compression spring 161 is retained by lateral projections 162 on one end of a link 163, disposed between the two links 158, the links 158 and 163 extending through the compression spring 161. At the end of the link 163 opposite to the lateral projections 162, the link 163 is pivotally connected to a rod 165. For actuating the printing unit 141, the rod 165 is pulled downwards as viewed in FIG. 9 by the lever 154 and causes the printing unit 141 to perform a printing operation.

To ensure that the printing unit 141 is actuated at the correct relative instant during each cycle of operation of the printing mechanism, a catch 166 is pivotally secured to the front plate 139 by a pivot pin 167 and is spring biased by a tension spring 168 secured at one of its ends to the catch 166 and at its opposite end to a bracket 170 mounted on the front plate 139. The catch 166 cooperates with a projection 171 on the link 165, the projection 171 also serving as a stop for the upper end of the links 158.

When the reciprocatable spindle 148 is moved to the left as viewed in FIG. 9 by the projection 147, lever 154 is pivoted anticlockwise while the link 163 is retained by engagement of the projection 171 and the catch 166, the compression spring 161 being compressed. When the front plate 139 is pivoted towards the cheque book 5 to bring the printing unit 141 into cooperation with the page of the cheque book disposed in the printing position, the four-armed lever 154 is pivoted sufficiently by the movement of the reciprocatable spindle 148 to enable an arm 172 of the four-armed lever 154 to contact and release the catch 166-, whereupon the link 163 and the actuating rod 165 are rapidly moved downwards under the action of the spring 161 to operate the printing unit.

The pivoting of the front plate 139 about the reciprotable spindle 148 is controlled by a cam 174 carried on the cam shaft 16, and cooperating with a cam follower roller 175 carried by a lever 176. This lever 176 is pivotal about a pivot pin 178 on the front frame member and is pivotally connected to a vertical link 179, a tension spring 180 being anchored to the vertical link 179 and to the front frame member for urging the cam follower lever 175 against the periphery of the cam 174.

The upper end of the vertical link 179 is pivotally connected by a pivot pin 181 to an arm of an angle lever 182, the other arm of which carries a projection pin 183.

The angle lever 182 is pivotally connected to the upright 86 by a pivot screw 185. The pin 183 is engageable by a latch 186 which is pivotally secured to a bracket 187 secured to the front plate 139, the latch 186 being rigid with a manually engageable release catch 189 projecting from the front of the front plate 139.

When the latch 186 is engaged with the pin 183, pivoting of the angle lever 182 about the pivot screw 18 5 under the control of the cam 174 is transmitted to the front plate 139, which is thereby rocked towards and away from the cheque book 5 in timed relation with the operation of the other parts of the mechanism described above. The pin 181 is loose fitting to allow the link 179 to rock sideways.

The printing unit 141 is indicated in FIG. 1 and illustrated in greater detail in FIGS. 9 and 10. The printing unit comprises a plurality of printing wheels 230 carried on a common shaft, each wheel 230 being formed with sixteen type faces 233. Each of the printing wheels 230 is in meshing engagement with an associated setting wheel 235 which is manually rotatable for setting the printing wheel 230.

The setting wheels 235 are carried on a spindle 236 the cross-section of which is defined by two circular arcs each less than a semicircle. Retainers 237 hold the setting wheels 235 against the spindle 236 in such a manner that adjacent setting Wheels are offset from one another to facilitate engagement by the operators fingertips during setting of the printing wheels 230, the retainers 237 bearing against circular shoulders (not shown) on the setting wheels 235.

A plurality of hammers 240, one for each printing wheel 230, are carried on a common spindle 241, only one of these hammers being visible in the drawings.

A resilient member 242 of thermoplastic material carried by the hammer 240 is formed with a plurality of slots to provide a row of tongues 243, one of which rests on each of the hammers 240. The resilient member 242 is retained by a gib 244 loosely slotted into the hammer 240.

The tongues 243 can twist and bend slightly, when struck by the hammers 240, to eliminate faulty printing due to slight inclination of the type faces 233.

A sheet 243 of hard plastic material of about .007 inch thickness is held above the resilient member 242 to prevent damage to the tongues 243 by the type faces 233 when the printing unit is inadvertantly actuated without a sheet of paper between the type faces 233 and tongues 243.

For actuating the hammers. a pivotal U-plate 247 is pivotally connected to the actuating rod 165 described above with reference to FIG. 9, the U-plate 247 having a protruding edge 249 for striking the hammers 240.

A stop 250 is provided on the front plate 139 for a projection 251 on the U-plate 247.

When the catch 166 is released, the protruding edge 249 strikes the hammers 240, which rock anticlockwise as viewed in FIG. 10 and, on stopping of the U-plate 247, continue to move under their own momentum to effect printing on a page of the cheque book between the sheet 245 and the type faces 233, from a tape 301 impregnated with magnetic ink and fed through the printing unit. The tape 301 is housed in a reel and is conducted over guide rollers 303, 304 and 305 through the printing unit 141 and on to a take up reel 306 by way of rollers 307, 308. The roller 303 is driven by a pawl 309 engaging teeth 310 of the roller 308. The pawl is arranged at the end of a lever 311 pivoted to an arm 312 of the fourarmed lever 154 so that the tape is driven every time the printing mechanism is operated. The printing unit 141 is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, at the instant at which printing takes place.

To assist in adjusting the setting wheels 235, a viewing frame 254 is provided through which characters on the setting wheels 235 are visible, the characters visible through the frame 254 at any instant corresponding to the type faces 233 set for printing.

A counter-balance mechanism for the plate 139 is shown in FIG. 11 and comprises a plate 210 carried by the front plate 139 having a projecting portion 211 extending past the front frame member 140 and carrying a pin 21.2. A slide member 214 is provided at one end with a longitudinal slot 213 through which the pin 212 extends, and at its other end with a further longitudinal slot 215. A bracket 217 secured to the front frame member 140 carries a pin 21S extending through the slot 215.

The pin 212 is secured to a spring retainer 219, and a compression spring 220 is seated between shoulders 221 on the spring retainer 219 and shoulders 222 on the slide member 214.

As the front plate 139 is lowered by rotation about the spindle 148 (FIG. 1) into the position in which it is shown in FIG. 11, the pin 212 slides in the slot 213 and the compression spring 220 acts as a shock absorber to prevent damage to the machine.

The spring 220 and the location of the pins 212 and 218 are such that during a first portion of the rotation of the front plate 139 from its upright position, in which latch 186 engages pin 183 (FIG. 9), the spring 220 is able to return the front plate 139 towards its upright position if the front plate 139 is released by the operator of the machine.

During rocking of the front plate 139 towards and away from the cheque book 5 under the control of the cam 174 as described above, the pin 218 slides to and fro along the slot 215.

The clamping device 120, previously referred to in connection with FIGS. 6 to 8, is shown in greater detail in FIG. 12. The clamping device comprises a clamp member 190 provided with a projection 191 and is turnable about pivot pins 192 secured to upstanding side walls 193 and 194 at the top of the upright 86. A tension spring 195 secured to the projection 191 and to the upright 86 retains the clamping member 190 by a toggle action either in the open position in which it is shown in FIG. 12 or in a closed position (shown in FIG. 7), in which an undersurface 196 of the clamping member 190 is pressed down against the top of the cheque book 5 resting on a horizon- 7 tal surface 197 on the upright 86. The clamping member 190 carries a guide member 199 having parallel curved side walls 200 for guiding the pages of the cheque book 5 lifted by the fingers 2 and 3.

FIG. 13 shows a device for correctly positioning the cheque book 5 prior to initiation of the printing. For this purpose, a bracket 203 having a right-angled recess 202 is pivotally mounted on an upright channelled member 204. The upright channelled member 204 is provided at one end of the front frame member and carries a slide member 206. A catch 207 at the upper end of the slide member 206 is engageable with a projection 208 on the bracket 203 for retaining the bracket in the position shown. The slide member 206 is supported on the channelled member 204 by a pair of screws 210, 211 engaging in slots in the slide member 206 and a tension spring is secured at one of its ends to the slide member 206 and at its opposite end to the extension 208 of the bracket 203. A lever (not shown) secured to the front plate 139 is arranged to engage a projecting portion 214 of the slide member 206 to release the clutch 207 when the front plate is turned to engage the latch 186 with the pin 183.

The operation of the mechanism will now be described For the insertion of a cheque book, the mechanism is initially switched 011, front plate 139 is in its horizontal position indicated in FIG. 11, the page lifting mechanism is open and the book clamping mechanism is also open. The print wheels 230 are manually set by the set ting wheels 235 (FIGS. 9 and 10) to print the required characters.

The cheque book to be printed is located in the mechanism by firstly clamping it at its spine by means of the clamping member (FIG. 12) and in order to ensure that the cheque book is correctly positioned in the mechanism one corner of the opposite end of the cheque book is layed in and aligned with the right angle recess 202 of the bracket 203 (FIG. 13). When the clamping member 190 has been clamped against the book the free end of the book is lifted from the support 203 and is fitted between the lower end of the platform 90 and the rail 93, as shown in FIG. 7. In order to do this the platform 90 is depressed against the spring 98 so as to provide a gap between the platform and the rail 93 so that the end of the cheque book can be inserted therebetween. The page lifting mechanism which will close when the mechanism is operated is left open and the front plate 139 is lifted and is retained in its position by means of its catch mechanism 189 (FIGS. 1 and 10). The mechanism is then switched on and a cycle of its operations started. It should be borne in mind that where cover pages of the book are not required to be printed, the front cover page is folded away from the rest of the book so as not to be printed by the mechanism and the mechanism stopped as it reaches the rear cover page.

The uppermost page of the cheque book is first lifted by the lifting mechanism. In order to do this an intermediate part of the cheque book page is held stationary by the pad 106 (FIGS. 7 and 8) while the pad 119 is moved towards the uppermost page so as to lift the portion of the page between the two pads thereby to form the bulge 5. This is controlled by the cam shaft 16 of the mechanism by means of the cam and lever arrangement 123, 124.

A pair of fingers 2, 3- is moved into line with the uppermost page at the bulge 5 and is moved to grip the page, the finger 3 passing between the uppermost page and the next page of the cheque book and the finger 2 passing over the top of the uppermost page. The fingers 2, 3 are closed to grip the uppermost page between them whereupon the pads 106 and 119 are moved away from the cheque book to allow the page to be turned by the fingers 2, 3.

The pairs of fingers are carried intermittently around by means of the Geneva mechanism shown in FIGS. 1

and 2, the Geneva mechanism being controlled by the cam shaft 16. The Geneva mechanism moves the pair of fingers from one rest position in which the fingers engage the bulge of the lifted page to the next rest position in which the page lies at rest in its printing position.

Upon arrival of the cheque book page at the printing position, the front plate 139 which carries the printing unit 141 is pivoted about the rod 148 so as to bring the print wheels 230 of the printing unit over the cheque book page. This is controlled by means of the cam shaft 16, cam 142 and bell-crank mechanism 182 to 186 (FIGS. 9 and 10). The cam shaft 16, at the same time reciprocates the pivot rod 148 whose collar 152 operates the fourarmed lever 154 against the return action of spring 157. Thus, on movement of the rod 148 to the left (FIG, 9), the four-armed lever 154 tensions the spring 161, the projection 171 being retained in position by means of the catch 166. Further movement of the four-armed lever 154 to the left causes the arm 172 to engage the catch 166 which is turned and releases projection 171 causing it to move downwardly under the action of the spring 161. This movement of the projections 171 causes pivoting of the U-plate 247 about its pivot 298 (FIG. 10) which causes the printing edge 249 to strike the hammers 240 turning them about their pivots 241 to strike the cheque book page immediately beneath the print wheels 230 so as to cause the print wheels 230 to print thereon. The hammers 240 finish their stroke under their own momentum since the U-plate 247 is prevented from following through by the stop 250.

When printing has been completed the front plate 139 is pivoted away from the printed page and the fingers 2, 3 move on and take the page with them. This page will continue to be inermittently moved until it reaches the far side of the mechanism when the fingers will release the page and move out of its way allowing the page to remain free. The fingers have then completed a full cycle of operations and move in to grip a further page of the cheque book.

It will be observed that a plurality of pairs of fingers are provided and that while one pair of fingers is stationary at the printing station, another pair of fingers as picking up a page of the cheque book and so forth.

If desired, the printing unit may be connected to a counting mechanism known .per se arranged to stop the motor 11 after a predetermined number of prints have been effected by the printing unit.

The above described mechanism prints six pages during each complete revolution of the Geneva wheel 9.

It should be clearly understood that the mechanism described and illustrated is given by way of example only. Modifications, additions and omissions are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A printing mechanism for printing on successive .pages of a book, comprising a mounting structure for mounting a book thereon, a rotary member, means for driving said rotary member, at least one pair of fingers carried by said rotary member and arranged thereon for gripping a page of the book and turning said page past a printing position, means for closing the fingers so as to hold said page by said fingers while turning said page and means for opening said fingers after said page has passed said printing position so as to release said page, and printing means operable on the arrival of said page at the printing position to effect a print on to said page.

2. A printing mechanism as defined in claim 1, and comprising a plurality of pairs of said fingers, said pairs of fingers being carried in circumferentially spaced relationship by said rotary member.

3. A printing mechanism as defined in claim 2, and further comprising a Geneva mechanism for intermittently rotating said rotary member said Geneva mechanism comprising a Geneva wheel, a pin engageable in and disengageable 'from slots of said Geneva wheel for imparting intermittent rotary movement thereto, a drive lever carrying said pin, a second lever to which said drive lever is pivoted, drive means for rotating said second lever to drive said drive lever, and a third lever pivoted to said drive lever for guiding said .drive lever, said slots being nonradial and positioned so that the rate of acceleration of said Geneva wheel at the beginning of each rotation is greater than the rate of deceleration at the end of each rotation.

4. A printing mechanism as defined in claim 2, and further comprising means for displacing each pair of fingers between a first position and a second position, said displacing means cooperating with said means for closing and opening said fingers, so that said fingers are closed in one of said positions are opened while being displaced.

5. A printing mechanism as defined in claim 4, wherein said means for closing and opening said fingers comprise a projecting member arranged to move between a first position in which it engages between said fingers of said pair to open them and a second position in which it is disengaged from said fingers, a first abutment arranged to engage said projecting member and to move said projecting member between said fingers and a second abutment disposed in the path of movement of said projecting member and arranged to move said projecting member to its second position.

6. A printing mechanism as defined in claim 4, and further comprising a plurality of arms, one for each pair of fingers, said arms mounting said pairs of fingers on said rotary member, and two additional levers, one finger of each of said pairs of fingers being pivotally secured to one of said additional levers, said additional levers being pivoted to one of said arms.

7. A printing mechanism as defined in claim 3, and further comprising means for successively lifting a portion of each page of said book to form a bulge for facilitating gripping of said page by a pair of said fingers.

8. A printing mechanism as defined in claim 7, wherein said lifting means comprise a pad engageable with said page, a wiper spaced from said pad and arranged for pressing against said page, and means for moving said wiper towards said page so as to lift the portion of said page which lies between said wiper and said page.

9. A printing mechanism as defined in claim 1, and further comprising means for pivotally mounting said printing means, a drive mechanism for pivoting said printing means into said printing position and away from said printing position, and means for actuating said printing means when in said printing position, said mounting means comprising a reciprocatable shaft about which said printing means is pivotable, said shaft when reciprocating transmitting actuating drive from said actuating means to said printing means.

10. A printing mechanism comprising at least one pair of fingers, means for opening said pair of fingers, means for closing said pair of fingers, a rotary member, said pair of fingers being carried by said rotary member, a Geneva mechanism for intermittently rotating said rotary member together with said pair of fingers, means for supporting a book whose pages are to be printed, means for displacing said pair of fingers substantially in the direction of the axis of rotation of said rotary member to dispose said pair of fingers when opened by said opening means on opposite sides of a page of said book when in a first position, means for retracting said pair of fingers from said page, means for bulging said page when in said first position, and means for positioning said page when carried by said fingers from said first position to a second position, said fingers being pivotally connected together, said opening means comprising a first abutment and a projection arranged to move between .said fingers on engagement of said projection by said first abutment, said closing means comprising a second abutment and spring means arranged for urging said fingers towards each 1 1 other, said second abutment being arranged in the path of movement of said projection for removing the same from said position, said projection being pivotally mounted on one of said fingers, and said first abutment being provided on said one finger, said projection being arranged to move between said fingers of said pair of fingers substantially in the direction of the axis of rotation of said rotary member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12,954 5/1855 Leverich 10180 Soule et a1. 10179 McAdarns 101-78 Black et a1 101-81 Oertel 101230 Howard 101-407 Turmer 10179 US. Cl. X.R. 

